Saxophone mouthpiece and process of making the same



July 22, 1930'.

P. ARTHUR 1,771,109 SAXOPHONE uou'rnrmcs AND rnocnss or IIAKING 'ms sunFiled Dec. 10, 1923 Patented July 22, 1930 umrso s'rAras PAUL ARTHUR, OFELKHOBK, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB 'IO FRANK BOLTON E 00., 01"

PATENT OFFICE moan, Wisconsin, 11 conronanon or ILLINOIS saxornomsnou'rnrnicn AND rnocnss or MAKING THE sum a pucaum Med December 10,1923; Serial 1T0. 879,553.

May invention relates to mouthpieces for win instruments, such assaxephones, and the like.

One of the objects of this improvement is I the provision of a. simpleand. efllcient mouthpiece for wind instruments and the like, which'canbe made easily an at low cost.

A further object is the provision of a mouthpiece of the charactermentioned having a metal lining which can be accurately formed ofstandardized parts.

A further object is the provision of a mouthpiece of the charactermentioned having a s eet metal lining around the wind pas-v pagetherethrough and a covering around said inmg.

I A still further object is the method of forming a mouth iece for windinstruments, such as mentione having a sheet metal lining and a coverinsuch as is nown commercially on the market as bakelite or vulcanizedcover' Other objects willappear hereina An embodiment of my invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawing, formingca part of'thisspecification, and in which- I ig. 1 is a side view of a mouthpiece forsaxophones, and the like, embodying my invention; a

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view ofthe mout iece with the reed and 1i ature removed; an

F'i 4 is a si e view of one-half of the sheet metal lining of myimproved mouttgviece.

Referring more partieulfi to drawing, I have indicated a m piece such asis used on saxophones, butit will be under stood that my invention isapplicable to mouthpieces for various other wind instruments. In Figs. 1and 2 I have indicated an ordinary ligature 5 holding a conventionalreed 6 on the mouthpiece b means of bmding screws 7 which. are also 0conventional construction. p

My present improvement consists in form ing the mouthpiece pro r with ametal 11ning of sheet metal an than enclosin this lining in a coveringof suitable materia such as phenolic condensate product or somevulcanized compound.

of phenolic condensate product,

In theconstruction of mouthpieces for wind instruments thepassagethrough such mouthpiece must be given a particular shape, such asindicated in the drawing. In the construction of mouthpieces aspreviously done this wind passage must be cut out by hand by experiencedworkmen and requires considerable time and, therefore, the mouthpiecemust be necessarily expensive to manuacture. With m improvement the windpassages of mout pieces can be all made exactly alike of sheet metalmade in properly formed dies. This provides a construction in which themouthpieces can be made more accurately than in previous constructionsand also at a small fraction of the cost of such previous constructions.I

I provide a lining of sheet material-and this may be of silver, nickelsilver, or any other suitable material which may be cast, but which ispreferably sheet metal. When formed of sheet material it is cut out andstruck up with forming or drawing dies in a manner suitable to producethe forms shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The lining is preferably formed in twoarts with their adjacent edges in a vertical p ane through the center ofthe mouthpiece as positioned when in use; the inner edges fittingaccurately to form a continuous smooth interior surface free fromirregularities. With this construction the lining is therefore in twohalves, a right-hand half 8 and a left-hand half 9, (see Fig. 3). Olcourthe lining may be made up of parts having diflerent shapes, but I findthe two halves as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 very economical. inconstruction and efiicient in use.

The halves 8 and 9 after being formed as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 havetheir edges 10 brought together and refer-ably secured to each othereither by so der, brazing, or some such means. These parts may be placedtoether and held by the covering if so desired,

at I prefer to rigidly secure these edges together preliminarily bysolder, brazing, or the like.

In assembling the device the adjacent edges 10 are secured together asjust mentioned and then a covering of phenolic condensate prodnot orsuitable material is vulcanized or otherwise attached or moulded to theouter side of the hollow metal lining 89. lVhen phenolic compound or avulcanized material is used to cover the lining, the latter isvulcanized in place on the lining mounted in a proper die or mold, notshown. With this construction the two lining parts are rigidly securedtogether and the covering 11 rigidly secured to the outside of saidlining. This is a construction having the advantages of the metal liningand the advantages of the phenolic compound or vulcanized mouthpiece. Itwill be understood that the lining 8-9 may be formed in any desiredthickness of material to accomplishthe desired results.

Before securing the lining halves 8 and 9 together the abutting edgesmay be trimmed in any suitable manner to insure an accurate fit. Thiscan be done by hand, if desired, but a more economical method is to useflash removing dies for forming the parts such as are now commonly usedfor forming spoons and other articles of a similar nature. These dieshave a shearing blade or blades slidably mounted on the female member,the blades being provided with a cam or other actuating device to forcethem across the edges of the open side of the die while the male memberis in position therein, thus shearing away projecting portions of thesheet metal in the die and leaving the edge true. The male member isprovided with a shoulder flush with the open face of the female memberagainst which the shearing action takes place. It is important that thetwo halves be made to fit together in a manner to provide a smooth windpassage of proper shape. It is advantageous also to have the metallining extend outwardly away from the wind passage, as indicated at 12,to protect the edges of the covering 11 and to facilitate placing themouthpiece on the wind instrument. This prevents the covering from beingchipped easily. It will be apparent also that the lining 8-9 extends upclose to the reed 6, as indicated at 13, so as to provide a smoothsurface for the reed and to provide a smooth opening for the windpassage 14.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in thedetails and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended and Iwish therefore not to be restricted to the precise construction hereindisclosed.

Having thus fully disclosed an embodiment of my invention, what I desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A mouthpiece for wind instruments comprising a plurality of stampedsheet metal parts adapted to fit together to form a lining, and anintegral covering enclosing said sheet metal parts.

2. A. mouthpiece for wind instruments comprising a sheet metal liningcomposed of a plurality of stamped parts fitted together to form acontinuous smooth interior surface, and an integral covering for suchlining to hold the latter permanently in place.

3. A saxophone mouthpiece comprising a lining made up of pieces of sheetmetal with a wind passage between the parts of the sheet metal, openingsat the ends of said wind passage, and a molded covering around saidlining, portions of said lining at the openings of said wind passagebeing disposed around on the edges of said covering adapted to protectthe latter against being chipped in use.

4. The method of forming saxophone mouth-pieces, which consists incutting out and striking up two pieces of sheet metal forming right andleft halves of a lining, then soldering adjacent edges of said piecestogether, and finally casting a covering around on said lining in closeproximity to the latter.

5. A mouthpiece for musical wind instruments comprising a tubular liningof ductile metal having an enlarged portion between the ends thereof,and a covering formed of an indurating phenolic condensate molded aboutsaid lining. I

6. A-mouthpiece for musical wind instruments comprising a tubular lininghaving curved sides forming an enlarged tone chamber, and a covering ofphenolic condensate molded on the outer surface of said lining.

7. The process of forming a mouthpiece for musical wind instrumentswherein a thin metal lining for said mouthpiece is pressed into shape toprovide an inner tone chamber having smoothly curved walls, the liningthus formed being covered by molding on the outer surface thereof acovering of indurating phenolic condensate.

8. The process of manufacturing a mouthj piece for musical windinstruments wherein a metal lining is shaped by forcing the wallsthereof into a proper shaped mold to provide an internal tone chamber,the lining thus formed being thereafter covered by a phenolic condensatepermanently molded on the outer surface thereof.

9. A mouthpiece for wind musical instruments comprising a preformedsheet metal lining substantially defining the shape of the completedmouthpiece, and a covering of indurating material permanently molded onsaid lining and reinforced throughout thereby.

10. A mouthpiece for wind musical instruments comprising a molded hollowshell of indurating material reinforced throughout the hollow of theinterior thereof by a sheet metal lining.

11. The method of producing mouthpieces for wind musical instrumentswhich consists in molding a permanent covering of indurating materialupon a sheet metal lining which has been preformed to substantiallydefine the desired shape of the completed mouthpiece.

12. The method of producing mouthpieces for wind musical instrumentswhich consists in molding a permanent covering of indurating materialupon a lining wh1ch has been preformed from a plurality of sheet metalparts to substantially define the desired shape of the completedmouthpiece.

13. The method of producing mouthpieces for wind musical instrumentswhich consists in molding a permanent coverin of indurating materlalupon a sheet metal lining which has been prevlously stamped tosubstantial- 1y define the shape of the completed mouthiece.

p 14. The method of producing mouthpieces for wind musical instrumentswhich consists in molding a permanent covering of induratin materialupon a lining which has been pre ormed from a pluralit of sheet metalparts stamped to substantia ly define the desired shape of the completedmouthpiece.

In testlmony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this7th day of December, A. D. 1923. 1

PAUL ARTHUR.

